#The abduction of Margaret Houlihan

[remyfire]

What's incredible about Hawkeye who is a girlfriend who laughs too loudly at her boyfriend's jokes is when Hawk says something funny and BJ makes no audible reaction, he needs to check and make sure he got a good grade in silly. Something completely different could be happening in front of him, but the most vital crucial important thing in this exact moment is making sure Beej is smiling.

[ezrasimp]

| MASH | 5x07 | The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan |

[klingerfashionarchive]

season 5 episode 7

[mashpoll]

The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan (s5 e7): While Margaret is detained out of the camp helping a Korean woman give birth, Potter calls in Colonel Flagg to investigate her disappearance.

Movie Tonight (s5 e22): When a favorite film arrives at the 4077th, the camp makes an event out of it, boosting everyone’s morale.

[quordleona03]

The thing about this is: Major Frank Burns shot Captain Hunnicutt. That is a court-martial offence.

Now, granted, there are reasons why realistically, Potter opted not to court-martial Frank. One, the classic MASH reason - even a poor surgeon is better than no one. Potter didn't want to get rid of Burns and have to have I-Corps send him another surgeon - or maybe a lawyer by mistake.

Two, current personal circumstances - Potter knew Frank was currently in a state of stress and emotion because he'd just been ditched by Margaret and she'd gone missing. Potter accepted this as an accident due to negligence and would have testified accordingly. Frank's sentence would probably have been "unfit to handle firearms, put him in a non-combat position" - which again, would probably have sent Burns away from the 4077th, see reason one.

Three, Potter was evidently sure it was an accident and not personal malice, because it was BJ that Frank shot, not Hawkeye - or Margaret.

Four, the wound was relatively trivial - needed treatment, but caused no permanent or long-term damage.

Five, BJ evidently didn't insist on pressing charges, though that was probably because Potter suggested he didn't, see reasons one to three.

What would change:

If it happened before Margaret ditched Frank

If Margaret hadn't been apparently abducted

If thewound had been more serious

If Frank had shot Hawkeye and Potter thought revenge had been the motivation - or if Frank had shot Margaret post-ditching

If BJ (or Hawkeye) (or Margaret) had wanted Frank court-martialled and off the base, he probably would have been.

i think we don't talk enough about how frank SHOT BJ????

[marley-manson]

So like, tbf several characters have moments where they practice/speak Korean, it’s just very inconsistent. BJ had a moment in The Nurses where he speaks Korean to a pregnant woman, Hawkeye’s learning it in The Chosen People and There’s Nothing Like a Nurse, Margaret has a couple scenes where she knows enough medical phrases to communicate, and Radar sometimes knows some Korean.

Just making a note to myself bc I’ve definitely complained about no one learning any Korean while they’re there. So it’s not quite true, it’s just very hit or miss and varies a lot depending on the episode. Still not great lol, and I feel like this drops off in later seasons (I could easily be wrong about that, but all the examples I can think of are from s3-5), but yk, at least an attempt was made.

[stars-bean]

M*A*S*H | 5.06 - "The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan"

[summerreign4077]

M*A*S*H Episodes With a Main Character’s Name in the Title.

Hawkeye Pierce

Dr. Pierce and Mr. Hyde

Carry On, Hawkeye

The Late Captain Pierce

Hawkeye

Hawkeye Get Your Gun

Hawk’s Nightmare

Commander Pierce

Bless You, Hawkeye

Give ‘Em Hell, Hawkeye

Margaret Houlihan

Hot Lips and Empty Arms

Margaret’s Engagement

The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan

Margaret’s Marriage

Hot Lips is Back in Town

Are You Now, Margaret?

Henry Blake

Henry, Please Come Home

The Trial of Henry Blake

Henry in Love

Abyssinia, Henry

Radar O’Reilly

Radar’s Report

Lt. Radar O’Reilly

Goodbye, Radar: Part 1

Goodbye, Radar: Part 2

Charles Winchester

The Winchester Tapes

Dr. Winchester and Mr. Hyde

Father Mulcahy

Mulcahy’s War

Sherman Potter

Potter’s Retirement

BJ Hunnicutt

BJ Papa San

Trapper, Frank, and Klinger are the only main characters who never had their names in an episode title.

[madame-est-morte]

FRANK: Sir, I think the Chinese have captured Major Houlihan.

POTTER: I see. So naturally you shot Captain Hunnicutt.

will you respect me in the morning?

[gr4yk]

Colonel Flagg, boy do I have a lot to say about you. A man who's so committed to the military and hanging onto that G.I. image for dear life to the point of literal self-harm. A man whose idea of masculinity is claiming you've trained yourself not to smile. A man who, for all intents and purposes, has been consumed by a system that doesn't give a fuck about him.

The reason that I liken him to Frank Burns a lot is that he's just as much of a propaganda-driven man as the former. The main difference in them lies in the fact that while Frank fails at conventional masculinity and lacks the charisma to actually have a G.I. temperament, Flagg is masculine and charismatic. He's a hunk. Which, I would go so far as to argue makes him an even worse case of a man desperate for purpose. When the war's over, Frank's going to be back to his (mal)practice and to the misery of whatever awaits him in civilian life. It's the shittiest sorry-excuse-for-a-life but it's still a Non-Military Thing He Has. Fake and miserable as it is.

But Flagg? Flagg's CIA. He's part of the damn system. He's deep into it. He, in achieving what Frank couldn't, dug a deeper hole of self-repression and denial for himself. He's barely a person anymore. He talks like a cartoon character hopped up on steroids and squints his eyes like an action movie star trying too hard.

In The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan he shows up and does fucking nothing. Yet somehow maintains this illusion of self-importance. He's silly as damn fucking hell, calling himself the wind and jumping out the damn window only to break his leg. But he genuinely doesn't realize it. And, again, unlike Frank, his self-assurance stops him from even registering it when other people point it out. Hawkeye makes fun of him and he's prissy about it but he doesn't look or feel bullied. Without, at the very least, registering the repulsion others seem to have for you ( which though sometimes evades Frank, is actually intrinsic to his character. He knows they don't like him. ), then how are you meant to improve? How are you meant to escape that trap you've shoved yourself into?

And can we take a moment to talk about his self-harm? Even if subconscious, there must be some part of him that is desperate to escape the life he's paved for himself. A reflection of the horrors he, too, sees both during the war and as a result of CIA conduct. Hurting himself for the sake of the army, the CIA and America™ might be the only way to feel worthwhile and alive at the same time. Just getting hurt, in his eyes, is losing. Doing a "mission" without sustaining any injuries? Why, that's just not noteworthy enough for him to get any attention from big strong Uncle Sam. But getting hurt on a mission? Now that's impressive. Now that's his purpose. Now that's what he should live for and, if all else fails, die for. What wonderful mixture of narcissism AND self-hatred must you have in you, Samuel, to feel that way.

I know this post is all over the place but the point of it is to say that in spite of being a complete and total beefcake, Colonel Samuel Flagg might be M*A*S*H's most pathetic character. Or at least the one who's deepest in his own shit. Unlike Frank, whose development demands an internal trigger to work, Flagg's might just be in dire need of an external one first, because internally he's been programmed to crumble.

[shiveringsoldier]

mash and/or becket for the fandom meme

I'll do M*A*S*H. Thank you!

My favorite female character

Margaret by default. I wish there had been more than one woman in the main cast, but Margaret has some very satisfying character growth. As a bonus, my favorite minor/one-off female characters are Soon-Lee, Kyung-Soon, and Helen

My favorite male character

Hawkeye. I have nothing to say about him that hasn't been said already; he's just a wonderful character

My favorite book/season/etc

I go back and forth between season 3 and season 5. Season 3 is when the show really finds its footing. It has some landmarks with the first episode of the show to not feature a laugh track and the first episode of any sitcom to kill off a main character. It also has a great comfort episode in "Springtime" and the criminally underrated "Bulletin Board." Season 5 has just the right blend of comedy and drama. It has one of the best Sidney episodes with "Dear Sigmund," and it really hones in on Margaret's development. Season 5 is a turning point for both her and Hawkeye; as Margaret starts to grow and improve, Hawkeye (or more specifically his mental health) starts to take a turn for the worse.

My favorite episode (if it's a TV show)

I'm cheating and saying two. I adore "Dr. Pierce and Mr. Hyde" for the same reasons you highlighted here, and I love "Dear Sis." When Mulcahy's anger issues are brought up in the show, it's mostly played for laughs, but "Dear Sis" takes it seriously. He assaults a patient, and that has personal repercussions. Also, the scene when the 4077th sings Dona Nobis Pacem in the mess tent makes me cry almost every time.

My favorite cast member

Alan Alda by default. I don't know most of the cast members' lives outside of the show, but Alan Alda has had such an interesting and eclectic career. I like his podcast, although I haven't listened to it in a good while, and I like his memoir Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I've Learned. It has a killer opening sentence.

My favorite ship

Hawkeye and Trapper maybe, although I don't have any serious ships. I love their yes/and comedy dynamic, and I love how much they clearly care about each other

A character I’d die defending

Klinger - not from the fandom but from the show. He is subjected to more and more racism as the show progresses, whether it's jokes about his nose or the abhorrent "Goodbye, Cruel World." His pivot from a man desperate to escape the Army to a moneygrubber makes absolutely no sense to me, and that feels rooted in racism as well. And it sucks that he is subjected to so much cruelty when he is perhaps the most consistently kind and selfless character in the show.

A character I just can’t sympathize with

Flagg. I don't even enjoy him as a comedic character some of the time. Some of his episodes I like ("The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan" makes me laugh very hard every time), but other episodes I can't stand.

A character I grew to love

Charles. I still don't love him as much as some of the fandom loves him - I think his bigotry is much deeper and more insidious than Frank's, and it seems like neither the fandom nor the show is willing to call him out - but man does he have a good arc. I didn't like him at first, but I eventually warmed up to him. David Ogden Stiers is just so good in the part. Also, his plot in the series finale is my favorite and the one that left the biggest impact on me, although that could be because I didn't know anything about his plot while other plots had been spoiled for me. I don't think I'll ever recover from the "He wasn't even a soldier. He was a musician" scene.

My anti OTP

I'm glad the show had the sense to not make Margaret and Hawkeye a couple; they're much better as friends and wouldn't be suitable romantic partners. In terms of ships I've seen in the fandom, I can't get behind Charles/Klinger at all. I know they have some moments of connection in the show (I love their last scene in "Death Takes a Holiday"), but I don't understand why people are shipping Klinger, a Lebanese, working-class man, with someone as egregiously racist and classist as Charles.

[aahsokaatano]

A Brief Examination of Margaret Houlihan and Gender

(aka I'm doing my rough draft of my essay on tumblr bc I can ramble here)

I spent 6 weeks watching all 251 episodes of M*A*S*H with the aim of critically analyzing Margaret Houlihan, and more specifically how she is referred to throughout the series. I was initially doing this with the idea of tracking the change from "Hot Lips" to Margaret, but I got more than I bargained for - I really forgot how often she's referred to as a man or in a gender neutral way, and it's super interesting, so under the cut is a list of quotes and some light analysis.

Season 1

"Oh, sorry baby." / "Major to you!" ("The Pilot" s1e1) Neutral

"You're dismissed!" / "Thanks, Mother." ("The Pilot" s1e1) Feminine

"One lady in our outfit..." ("Dear Dad" s1e12) Feminine

Season 2

"You are no gentleman!" / "Good thing you are." ("Divided We Stand" s2e1) Masculine

[Margaret speaking on behalf of Frank] "That's pretty strong stuff, Frank." / "It's true!" ("L.I.P. (Local Indigenous Personnel)" s2e7) Masculine

"You've emasculated me for the last time!" ("Carry On Hawkeye" s2 e11) Masculine

"Margaret Houlihan; nurse, friend, and all around good egg." ("Carry On Hawkeye" s2e11) Neutral

[Radar calls Margaret "sir" - this is something that he ends up doing for several more seasons] "Men are sirs, women are ma'ams!" ("Hot Lips and Empty Arms" s2e14) Feminine (with Masculine connotations long-term)

Season 3

"You know, for once I agree with him?" / "I [Margaret] said that." / "I know." ("Rainbow Bridge" s3e2) Masculine

"Speaking man-to-man, Colonel," ("There is Nothing Like a Nurse" s3e10) Masculine

"He's a creep." / "She's a creepette." ("The Consultant" s3e17) Feminine

"I know you didn't volunteer because you're a married man [...] Well, I'm a married man, too, Frank. Married to the Army." ("Aid Station" s3e19) Masculine

"I'm not just Major Margaret Houlihan, army nurse. I'm also Margaret Houlihan - frail, vulnerable, sensitive female." ("Aid Station" s3e19) Feminine

"Don't think of me as a woman!" ("Aid Station" s3e19) Neutral/Masculine

Season 4

"When I was five, I had a crying fit because they wouldn't let me have a crew cut." ("Deluge" 4.23) Neutral/Masculine

Season 5

"He [Donald] calls me his little plebe." ("Margaret's Engagement" s5e2) Neutral

"I'm an engaged person!" ("Margaret's Engagement" s5e2) Neutral

[Speaking to a newborn baby] "Major Houlihan is here to help you." ("The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan" s5e6) Neutral

"Anybody can open with a pair of 10s if they're wearing civilian boxer shorts." / [...] / "I'll open for 25 cents." ("Dear Sigmund" s5e7) Neutral/Masculine

"Margaret, when you're sick, can't you call me Frank?" / "You know I'm an engaged person." ("The Colonel's Horse" s5e11) Neutral

"Margaret, I'm as taut as a watch spring." / "Your state of tautness s no longer a concern of mine, Major Burns. I happen to be an engaged person." ("Hawkeye's Nightmare" s5e13) Neutral

"Sure, nurse..." / "Nurse?! You're talking to a major!" / "Sorry. Would you help us move this guy into pre-op, Major?" ("Post-Op" s5e23) Feminine/Neutral

Season 6

"A head nurse who is part seductress, and part Attila the Hun" ("The Winchester Tapes" s6e4) Feminine/Masculine

[the nurses to Hawkeye] "Do you think you could talk to Hot Lips?" ("Images" s6e9) Feminine

"Hot Lips Houlihan: blonde landmine." ("Patent 4077" s6e16) Feminine

"Congratulations. You're still a major, Major." ("What's Up, Doc?" s6e19) Neutral

Season 7

[about her divorce] "Best thing that ever happened to me. The weight of the world is off my shoulders! I feel like a new woman!" ("Peace On Us" s7e2) Feminine

[BJ] "The king is dead." / [Hawk] "Long live the queen." / [Margaret] "You bet." ("Hot Lips is Back in Town" s7e20) Feminine

"I'm going as far in this man's army as any woman can go. Maybe even general!" ("Hot Lips is Back in Town" s7e20) Feminine

Season 8

"I'm a woman, and I can tell you what it's like for a woman to be away from the man she loves." ("Too Many Cooks" s8e1) Feminine

"To be a woman, with the rank of major..." ("Are You Now, Margaret?" s8e2) Feminine

"Hot Lips?" / "Yeah, that's a nickname she picked up." ("Are You Now, Margaret?" s8e2) Feminine

"Hot Streak Houlihan strikes again!" ("Life Time" s8e11) Neutral

"I'm just as much a major as any other major. You'll notice these leaves come in gold, not pink for girls and blue for boys." ("Stars and Stripes" s8e14) Feminine/Neutral

"What do you suppose I am deep down?" / "Deep, deep down? A woman." / "Go a little deeper." / "A major." / "I'm me. Sometimes a nurse, sometimes a major, sometimes a woman in love... sometimes all three at once." ("Stars and Stripes" s8e14) Feminine/Neutral

[speaking to an infant] "Hello there, sweetheart. I'm your Auntie Margaret." ("Yessir, That's Our Baby" s8e15) Feminine

Season 9

"What's the matter? She isn't man enough to bring it in [to the men's showers] herself?" ("Bless You, Hawkeye" s9e17) Masculine

[speaking to Margaret] "You know, you don't get to be a high-ranking officer, to run an O.R., to command respect, unless you've earned it." ("The Foresight Saga" s9e19) Neutral

Season 10

"I know everybody thinks I'm tough, demanding, insensitive, cold, callous, crabby - feel free to disagree at any time!" / "Think of it this way; maybe you are all that stuff, but deep down underneath, I think maybe there's some more stuff that's... pretty good stuff. You know?" ("The Birthday Girls" s10e11) Neutral

Season 11

"I do not need the help of a nurse." / "It's a good thing I'm a lady or you'd need a nurse, buster!" ("Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" s11e16) Feminine

Total Counts:

Feminine: 19

Masculine: 12

Neutral: 17

These aren't all of the quotes I collected during my rewatch, or the only thing I was paying attention to, but it definitely caught my interest. And laying out like like this, by season, you can really see the trends ebb and flow. Margaret is portrayed pretty firmly as feminine/neutral through the first season, but season two introduces the running joke of other characters referring to her as "Frank" and using he/him due to how often she speaks on his behalf, as well as Radar calling her "sir" rather than "ma'am." She sticks even more firmly to referring to herself neutrally in season five, calling herself an "engaged person" rather than an "engaged woman" on three different occasions.

After her marriage and Frank's departure, Margaret is referred to more femininely again, but she doesn't refer to herself as a woman until season 7, after her divorce. I find it especially interesting to compare "The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan" in s5 and "Yessir, That's Our Baby" in s8; both deal with very young infants and show us Margaret's interactions with these babies. In s5, she refers to herself as "Major Houlihan" to the baby, but then in s8, she's "Auntie Margaret." Between these events were her marriage and divorce, and Margaret's self-confidence being boosted by her work on herself and her duties as head nurse.

BJ refers to Margaret loosely in masculine terms in s9, and it's the first time the joke has been really touched on since s6, when Charles compares her to Attila the Hun. This is the last time anyone refers to Margaret as masculine, with the final two seasons having her presented either neutrally (by rank) or femininely (as a "lady").

Margaret's character journey actually can be tracked through this list of quotes pretty well. She's more of an antagonist when she's referred to more often with masculine terms, and as she develops into a more traditional protagonist, the narrative refers to her with more feminine terms. The fact that Margaret herself is most likely to use feminine terms when she's at her most confident in herself is definitely interesting, and I think says a lot about how her confidence is tied into her self-image.

[klingerfashionarchive]

season 5 episode 7

[pearloftheforest]

ep 6 season 5 - The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan

this has to be one of my favorite jokes in the show

[mashpoll]

Mulcahy's War (s5 e9): Father Mulcahy gets a taste of the war up close when he makes a trip to an aid station.

The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan (s5 e7): While Margaret is detained out of the camp helping a Korean woman give birth, Potter calls in Colonel Flagg to investigate her disappearance.